A Single Night
by MrsGaryOldman
Summary: [MultiChapt. Fic] Aragorn, Legolas, Faramir & co. leave their women behind for a night as they go on a boys hunting trip ... or so they say. How will they manage without the women, who are enjoying their freedom back at home!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note;** _Well hey everyone :-) It's been quite a while since I got to post, but I've the beginnings of so many fics done and all that I tend to get distracted from other stories I should be workin' on (sorry Rachel dear!) So, the bad news is that I'm still as slow as ever and 'The Birthday Boy' hasn't moved on a lot, but good news is that I'm nearly done with the second and last chapter of 'Aragorn's Vision' – yay! Plus, my lil fan Rachel has been keepin' such an interest in my works that she has been mailin' me some requests and a cool idea from the 'ROTK' book which I think lots of people had simply forgotten about. Anyway, I'll incorporate that into the 'Coronation/Wedding' story, which you can check out on my bio page under 'Teasers'. (Thnx Rach xxx) So, I am getting' back into the swing of things again as stuff is easin' off (I've had two proms n' exams results n' SO many birthdays through Jul/Aug) so keep a watch…At the moment, this is what I came up with late one night. It's a little more humourous and silly than the previous stuff (or stuff to come), so when you see things below that doesn't seem Middle Earth-ish to you, don't take it serious. I'm no good at humour so I'm not gonna go all out for a spoof or that, so please bear in mind this is just light-hearted, and the more serious or realistic stories will be back soon! Featured in this will be lots of 'LOTR' characters and it's gonna have few chapters…Hugs and Kisses to my reviewers & readers, I take note of ye! xxxx_

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Disclamer; Nope, I'm not the wonderful Prof. JRR Tolkien (but the wonderful part is right - LOL) so I don't own any of these characters...YET. _(Well, except for maybe Aragorn!)_

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**The Lord of the Rings - A Single Night**

A satisfied sigh left him as the last strap of the royal horse reign was securely knotted. "There! I believe we are now ready to depart," the King said with relief. He patted the strong side of the mare as he boyishly smiled to his surroundingfriends. They slyly looked to him with mirroring grins before the men turned in unison from the convoy of equipped horses to bid their farewells to their respective other-halves.

"Please take care of yourself, melleth-nin (my Love)," the Queen sorrowfully requested, wrapping her arms around her husband's shoulders, donned with various straps of small worn rucksacks. Aragorn rolled his eyes as he lightly returned the gesture. Living as a ranger in the wildest parts of Middle Earth for the sake of marrying her had given him quite a bit of confidence when it came to a mere camping trip. "Let there be no concern on your behalf. I….we," he corrected, looking to his small companion, "are more than able to survive a single night in the open."

Accepting the answer, Arwen bent down to her son, fixing his hair from his eyes before she covered him with a hug, "If your Ada and the men become at all scared, you make sure you look after them, mybrave boy. I ask that you be good in your absence!" In his release, Eldarion met her concern with a broad smile, "Naneth, I am most practiced in the killing of Orcs and sorts." "Ion-nin (my son), I speak of alive creatures, not models of recreation." "As do I Naneth," he answered in a tone suggesting it obvious.

"Be sure you eat properly," Eowyn said for the um-teenth time as she straightened her husband's rich green coat collar, "and cook the meat near the flames until it is properly done. Watch for the colour to turn a crisp black." Faramir forced an obliging smile, knowing better not to make any comment on his wife's culinary habits nor even answer back, other than his usual "Yes dear."

His brother-in-law was in no better luck as the King of Rohan stood silent listening to his wife's lengthy lecture. "If some one stops you along the roads, do not speak to those you do not know. If they want a ride, do not let them on the horse with you." "Is that not how we met?" Eomer interrupted in hopes of quietening her. "Well, yes…." Lothiriel admitted, "but you didn't have such an unruly bunch in your company!" Her head nodded slightly to her left as she indicated to the short burly man and an equally small female next to them.

"I have packed you some extra underwear. It is the cotton you like, but I wasn't sure of what colours to send so I have packed them all. There are some matching vests with them as well. Oh, you had forgotten the carrot and cabbage mix I had made for you, so I have added it to your bag. I found you had only remembered the beverages, you silly billy! And I've also included a piece of cardboard, 'cause you never know. And should you be needing some blue paint, I've put that in the front pouch. And if you want som….." "Alright, alright!" the dwarf interrupted the limitless listings, "It is a wonder I am leaving for one night of peace! And I would leave for many more if I could! You women drive us to it!" Gladys dismissed his common male rantings as she pointed to her cheek for her goodbye kiss. Gimli fell quiet, barr his grunts of desperation. After taking a sharp glance around him to make sure no one saw his display of affection, he hesitantly granted her a speedy dry peck.

He need not have worried, for his friends were all busy with a similar problem.

"But what if you run out of bows? You will never have enough should you encounter a troll or even a warg!" Legolas' bethroded exclaimed. "Are you sure?" she then asked, unconvinced with his attempt to convince her that he only ever needed the one bow to kill a creature. Placing a soft finger to her mouth, the ever romantic elven prince gave his final assurance, "Melleth-nin (my love), sleep well in my absence knowing I have more with me now than I did during the War of the Ring. It is only for a single night."

"Have you your favourite pillow?" Eowyn asked her son as she severelyrubbed his cheek clean with a moistened tissue, "and enough blankets? Ohhh, you be good to the other boys, my little soldier!" Eodred was deprived of giving an answer as he was smothered in his mother's sudden embrace.

His cousin suffered the same fate as Lothiriel leant her son against her as she brushed the dusty gavel from his trousers. Elfwine did not appear entertained. "I shall only have them marked again, Mama!" he protested. "Well, once you are out of my sight, you may do so, but whilst you are in my company, I will not have a prince run around like a pauper! Stay still!"

Elraen and Sadriel crept from behind the numerous folds of their mother's dress and took their turn in taking time with their father before his departure. Of course, they knew they would see their father quite soon, but Sadriel had more than that worry alone, "Ada, who will instead check under my bed for creatures tonight…" Sadriel quietly expressed her concern, looking below her, "There are none as brave as you in the palace…." An amused smile crept upon Aragorn as he attemped his assurance, "Do not worry my darling, I have appointed at least three of the guards to do so in my stead." To his relief, Sadriel appeared satisfied as she jumped into his arms squeezed around her father's neck as he lifted her high above the stone surface. Elraen was not to be omitted as she tightly gripped her father around his waist, "Please leave Eldarion behind in the forest when you return, Ada. He's been making faces at us all day!" He hunched down to rub her cheek and place the youngest princess back down upon the ground again. "I don't even think the woods could deal with such a malice," the King replied, kissing them both, "but do enjoy your rest from him, as he will be only gone for a single night. We shall be back tomorrowbefore the sun sets, and I expect to get such eager embraces when we meet then."

In his rising, there was just the one lady left for him to say his goodbye to. In the breaking from their last kiss until the next evening, Aragorn slowly left his wife's side to return to Brego. By now, there was no effort in climbing the height to nestle in the familiar seat of his mount. As the King sat atop of the chestnut mare, the men to accompany him soon edged their way to their horses.

After Eldarion too had his goodbye kiss from his mother, and stuck his tounge out at the young princesses, Elladan, brother to Arwen and twin to Elrohir, moved from his silent stand and presented the young prince up high to the strong arms of his father. The elven twins then moved to embrace their sister farewell. "I would you both keep the sharpest watch on those two especially over this night. Return to me safe, dearest brothers," Arwen said, blessing the trip with an elvish wish. They answered her with a trusting wink before they themselves joined the hoard of ready horses lined outside the gates of Minas Tirith.

The King lightly drew his feet against Brego's sides and began the ride of he and those gathered behind him. As the horses all moved gracefully forward, the men bid those to be left behind a final farewell before the neat walk of the animals transformed into a quickened sprint. Dust rose from the trail of agile hooves and the men proudly rode off into the waiting wild.

The ladies moved from the gate and out onto a wider path in order to gain a better view of the men as they gradually faded into the landscape. They remained waving in blooming smiles until it was sure their actions would be impossible to see with the distance. The Queen gave a final look to the specks far off as Eowyn leant to her, "They have no idea, do they?" "Not a single notion," Arwen replied slyly before returning to the city gates. She cast a bright grin to her friends around her before the official announcement, "Let the girls night begin!"


	2. Chapter 2

Lindahoyland; _Thnx so much for your kind words and tips, I appreciate your help and takin' the time out to do so :-) Y'know, I thought I wasn't bein' descriptive enough! LOL! I do seem to have the habit of makin' my descriptions, sentences or dialogue quite complicated, don't I! Well, its kinda on purpose I guess, as I found Prof. Tolkien's work very descriptive and very formal/unsmooth in its content, I suppose I wanted to keep that little link in my stories, y'know, just to bring his touch into it... (Not that I would ever try to or be even compared to the guy!) Also, I don't know if it happens to anyone else, but when I post up a fic, or update my bio page, lots of the words become merged (as you're reading, its probably happened on this page! LOL!) so if they are the typos you mean, theres my excuse, but if there are words spelt wrong or otherwise (previous or below) - sos! (though again, there are lots of spelling differences between American English and European English - ie; color / colour) Anyway, again, thnx so so much for your sweet words & interest - you're such a dear! I'm gonna go read your stuff now :-)_

Felarof; _Well, greetings to my new (and evil) fan :-) LOL! Your review has me here with a huge grin! Thnx a mil for throwin?me on your alert list also, I'm very flattered! blush And may I just add, PLEASE gimme cupcakes?pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase! As you are evil, I doubt you'll show any sympathy, but they all look delicious! I think this is the quickest update I have ever made!_

Seyyada _Another new reviewer! Thank you kindly:-) I delighted ppl are findin' this funny, as it's very light humour (but in most of my fics, I try to add a lil relief) Also, thnx for your tips as well, I shall take note. The reason for me putting the elvish after the words is 'cos when I read stories with the elvish translation at the bottom, sometimes I find it breaks my flow of reading, 'cos I like to know what their saying as I go on rather than scroll up & down again, but that may just be silly ol' me and my linear thinking (tis true - left handed people like myself are linear thinkers - straight and step-by-step stuff is what we like! LOL!) But I am sorry 'bout that, and I'm not puttin' down that method of translation and if it suits the right-handed majority, I'll put the translations at the bottom of the page?LOL! And, yep, I usually do make personalised responses, but as I was just postin' up the 1st chapt., I hadn't any replies to make - I was thanking the good ppl such as yourself in advance:-) And I guess thats your personalised reply ?hee hee! Thanks a bunch for your encouragement and compliments, and if there are any more improvements needed, please don't hesitate to lemme know (I'm sure there are loads!)_

Ki_; Well, you're about to find out a lil more below ?LOL:-) Cheers for your review, 'tis lovely to hear from you!_

RS;_ My dear, as always, you've made my day! You never fail to review and always notice the lil details - thats why its such a pleasure to include them! Thank you hun for your sweet words and pointing out the spelling errors ?my excuse is in my reply to Lindahoyland. Xxxx_

The Dancing Cavalier;_ My, aren't I meeting lots of new ppl with this fic! Thank you for your support, and I'm SO glad you like it! Hope you like the rest as much!_

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**Chapter 2**

"I do not think I have spent such a long departure," Aragorn sighed as they reached a safe distance from the White City. "With such fuss, you wonder what they think of us sometimes."

"Actually all the time, My Lord. But if that were the fuss they would make with us going on a simple camping trip, I am glad they do not know the truth!" Faramir replied, both guilty and nervous. After all, the bravest of men would not dare to cross the Shieldmaiden of Rohan. By Valar, he hoped she would never find out!

Eomer smiled widely to himself as he added his remark, "Ahh, and I for two am also glad!"

"Men, let us not get carried away - we are telling our fine wives and women the truth," Aragorn corrected, sitting contently upon Brego's mount, _"basically!"_

Those accompanying him broke into cheers and laughter in agreement as they took delight in the fact that they had got so far as they did without so much as suspicion from the ladies. However, in their boyish excitement, they forgot they were not in the full company of men.

"Does Mother not know of our planned night, father?" Elfwine asked his father after a minute of silent assessment.

"Your mother? Ahh, well…..you see…" the King of Rohan stuttered, widening his eyes to his friends around him in sudden desperation, "your Mother knows all she is required to."

"So you have told the truth?"

"Of course!" came Eomer's dramatic reply.

"But if you did not tell her of everything, have you lied then?" came the small voice.

The men fell uneasily hush at the chance of their plan being exposed. "Ahh, I knew it," Faramir whispered to himself in alarm, before giving his son an exaggerated grin, hoping he would not follow his cousin's suit.

"Lied! Not at all son..."

"But you have not told the truth?" the young Prince asked in confusion, trying hard to make sense of the situation.

"Yes! I mean no, no...no, we have told the truth, but just not the _full_ truth."

"You see laddie," Gimli broke in, offering Eomer some relief with his words of wisdom, "Lassies are very different to us men. So different as a big spider and a poor little bird. Should a creature, such as the innocent bird, enter a spider's common domain, the spider will leave the creature be and _wait_ until it makes a mistake and gets caught in the spider's web -then the hungry spider catches the bird when given the first chance, and the little thing has is caught. Its days of freedom are at a sudden end. Any attempt to escape such wrath is futile!" Gimli explained pompously to the listening prince, who had not yet grasped the intended meaning of the story. And as with all his storytelling, the dwarf went on some more, "Lad, we boys are that innocent bird."

Elladan and Elrohir could only roll their eyes at the amusing attempt on Gimli's behalf. "Yes, _innocent,"_ Elladan scoffed.

Too enthralled with telling his tale to notice the jibe, the dwarf continued, "That poor creature was onlyliving happily and simple. And the women living around us are the spider, waiting for any opportunity to catch us should we make a mistake. Do you want our days...your days of freedom to be at an end? Because the lassies see a man's idea of a free night as wrong. They do not approve of beer and some acts of sport. But I assure you, we failed to mention a few things so your mother, your auntie and all the other women, would not get upset over nothing. So, in fact, it is better for all concerned that we did what we did! Its hard, but us men have to do these things you see..."

There was a moment of rigid silence before the result of the lecture was decided. Thinking for a moment, Elfwine then slowly nodded his head, "Oh, so it isa bit like when Eldarion and I say we play in the yard, but do not tell Mother that we had gone to the old mill instead?"

"Aye, that would be quite the same," Gimli agreed, holding his head high in feeling quite proud of his success.

Elfwine, however, had not finished expressing his understanding, "And like Father not telling Mother about his nickname for her..."

"That will be all son," Eomer hastily intervened, placing a tight grip on the boy's shoulder,"I believe we have enough conversation about the ladies for the time being. This is time out for the men!"

Once again, the group erupted into high-spirited cheers as they proceeded onward. As they made their way over the dry hills and valleys, the seven-tiered city disappeared in the landscape behind them, they had finally secured their mission.

-

"So my good women, what shall be partake first? All ideas are welcomed," Arwen announced, looking to her friends, "Let no one be shy, as this is a rare occurrence where we give ourselves some time."

"How about we get a massage," Lothiriel exclaimed, nearly jumping with excitement.

"Yes, and nice treatment of hot oil to our worn hair," Calaryn added, examining the ends of her golden tresses. After all, it proved quite useful for Legolas!

"Or have a meal prepared the way we like it - without having to worry about how the men like their meat cooked or vegetables cut," Eowyn quipped.

"Idon't mind looking after the vegetables," Gladys offered, estimating the task in her mind, "If I start the potatoes now, we could sit after the hour."

Arwen was the first to silence her as she took her hand with a gentle smile, "My dear, the meal will be prepared for us. I am sure this is the first time you are going to sit back and rest, but we are going to let ourselves be spoilt!" The Queen then turned to those around her again and gave her suggestion for the following hours. "First, we can soak in the baths before we take a much needed massage, with our skin lotioned and hair treated as Calaryn has wished. After that, we be fitted for some new gowns and dress for our own strictly ladies banquet in the Palace Hall. ...And perhaps if the notion takes us, we then can be entertained by a dance from some of the male staff!"

Judging by the giggles from her friends, the Queen's plans were happily approved.

-

"It does not appear that we have made much progress," Aragorn stated, glancing at the bland surroundings. Walking through fields, various trees and foliage, the men could easily have been walking around in circles.

"Following our original plan, we should be there well by the setting of the evening," Legolas informed the King, "but we are not long on track, so do not yet be concerned."

Perhaps it was Eldarion being restless which made the King's ride seem long, but he was not exactly sure when they should take the sharp left into the deeper woodland toward the southern banks of the Anduin river. Many times had he made the journey, but his days as 'Strider' and such travelling were far ago, leaving his memories to somewhat merge. "Soon we should make our turn to the south, but do you know when, mellon?"

The elf scanned the area but it was of no assistance,"I fear I do not know the exact road."

"How about you Faramir?"

Taking some time to ponder, the Steward lifted his gloved hand to his beard as he too found the exact route hard to recall. And when asked, all the others could offer little help either.

"Worry not, we will simply have to look to the map," Aragorn sighed, preferring if he had not to do so. He never did like the feeling of defeat.

After a moment of an awkward quiet, the outlay of Gondor had not surfaced as none offered it to him nor claimed to have it.

Brego was halted to a sharp stop as the King turned to the men. "Has anyone remembered to carry the map?"


End file.
